Author Bio Introduction
Jim Degerstrom
Born 1949 in Milo, Maine
Three generations of the Degerstrom family lived in Derby, Maine from the early to late 1900's. This small railroad town was more like a suburb of Milo with 2,800 combined population.
The 20 year old portrait here with my wife was taken Down Back in Derby, Maine, one of my favorite childhood places Growin' Up in Maine.
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My absolute favorite place while Grownin' Up in Maine was on the Sebec River in Derby, and specifically the old swimming hole at a spot we called Down Back.A photo I took recently and shown here reminds me of summertime and the dragonfly, plus a tale my Mom told to help keep 8 kids in line.
Readers may recall from a previous story that I related how as youngsters in the 1950's and 60's my friends and I invented our unique brand of swearing rather than use actual curse words. A couple of favorites were "sons o' buckwheat" and "barroid", and to this day I avoid cursing though must admit a less than perfect record.
Where was the motivation? Swimming, fishing, and rafting Down Back we couldn't help but notice the sheer number and variety of dragonflies. 40+ years later I still recall being told by my mother, "Don't swear or a dragonfly will sew your lips shut!". What?! Moms don't lie, right? Over time I've come to realize the truth and can't help but think... Dear Mom, Good thing a dragonfly doesn't sew lips for little white lies!
TAGS: dragonfly Maine stories summer
2 comments:
never heard that but gonna use it for sure when my grnadkids get to that age! LOL
The kids are never too young to hear that one. Expect them to roll their eyes though. Ours were simpler times and (me anyway) very naive.